Early Trait Theories

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Chapter 11 Personality
Finally, as judged by modern standards, Freud’s theory is not very scientific. His definitions of id, ego, unconscious conflict, and other concepts lack the precision required
for scientific measurement and testing (Pervin et al., 2005). Further, his belief that
unconscious desires drive most human behavior ignores evidence showing that much
of that behavior goes beyond impulse gratification. For example, the conscious drive
to attain personal, social, and spiritual goals is an important determinant of behavior,
as is learning from others. Taken together, these shortcomings have made the psychodynamic approach to personality less popular today than it was in past decades (Allen,
2006; Carver & Scheier, 2004).
The Trait Approach
䉴 What personality traits are most basic?
You could probably describe the personality of someone you know well with just a few
statements. For example, you might say,
She’s a really caring person, and very outgoing. She’s generous with her time, and she
works very hard at everything she does. Yet sometimes I think she also lacks self-confidence.
She always gives in to other people’s demands because she wants to be accepted by them.
In other words, most people describe others by referring to the kind of people they
are (“outgoing”); to the thoughts, feelings, and actions that are most typical of them
(“caring,” “lacks self-confidence”); or to their needs (“wants to be accepted”). Together,
these statements describe personality traits—the tendencies that help direct how a person usually thinks and behaves (Pervin et al., 2005).
The trait approach to personality makes three main assumptions:
1. Personality traits are relatively stable, and therefore predictable, over time. So a
gentle person tends to stay that way day after day, year after year (Costa &
McCrae, 2002).
2. Personality traits are relatively stable across situations, and they can explain why
people act in predictable ways in many different situations. A person who is competitive at work will probably also be competitive on the tennis court or at a party.
3. People differ in how much of a particular personality trait they possess; no two
people are exactly alike on all traits. The result is an endless variety of unique
personalities.
In short, psychologists who take the trait approach see personality as a combination of stable internal characteristics that people display consistently over time and
across situations (Pervin et al., 2005). Trait theorists seek to measure the relative
strength of the many personality characteristics that they believe are present in everyone (see Figure 11.2).
Early Trait Theories
trait approach A perspective on personality that views it as the combination of stable characteristics that people
display over time and across situations.
Today’s trait theories of personality are largely based on the work of Gordon Allport and
Raymond Cattell. (The contributions of another early trait theorist, Hans Eysenck, are
discussed later.) Allport spent thirty years searching for the traits that combine to form
personality. When he looked at the nearly 18,000 dictionary terms that can be used to
describe human behavior (Allport & Odbert, 1936), he noticed that there are clusters of
terms referring refer to the same thing. For example, hostile, nasty, and mean all convey
a similar meaning. To better understand this clustering, think of a close rellearn ative, and jot down all the personality traits that describe this person. If you
by
doing are like most people, you were able to capture your relative’s personality using
only a few trait labels. Allport believed that the set of labels that describe a particular
person reflects that person’s central traits—those that are usually obvious to others and
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The Trait Approach
FIGURE
11.2
Two Personality Profiles
Trait theory describes personality in terms of the strength
by
of particular dimensions, or
traits. Here are trait profiles for Rodney, an
inner-city social worker, and James, a sales
clerk. Compared with James, Rodney is
about equally industrious; more generous;
and less nervous, extraverted, and aggressive. Just for fun, mark this figure to indicate how strong you think you are on each
of the listed traits. Trait theorists suggest
that this should be easy for you to do because, they say, virtually everyone displays
a certain amount of almost any personality characteristic.
Industry
doing
2
learn
Generosity
Nervousness
Extraversion
Aggression
Low
Moderate
High
Strength of trait
Rodney
James
Source: Costa & McCrae (1992).
that organize and control behavior in many different situations. Central traits are
roughly equivalent to the descriptive terms used in letters of recommendation (reliable
or distractible, for example) that are meant to tell what can be expected from a person
most of the time (Schultz & Schultz, 2005). Allport also believed that people possess
secondary traits—those that are more specific to certain situations and control far less
behavior. “Dislikes crowds” is an example of a secondary trait.
psychology
applying
SELECTING A JURY
Some psychologists
employ trait theories of
personality in advising prosecution or
defense attorneys about which potential
jurors are most likely to be sympathetic
to their side of a court case.